Maps of cases

A young Tibetan writer and blogger, Druklo, was sentenced to three years imprisonment. He has been of interest to the Chinese authorities since 2010 when he began working for the political rights of minorities.

Chinese journalist Li Xin went missing in Thailand on 11 January and is believed to be detained in China. In October 2015, Li Xin first fled to India, after being threatened by Chinese officials who pressured him to inform against his colleagues and friends. Li Xin initially cooperated, but after he realized he was placing himself and his family in danger, he fled to India in order to evade imprisonment. After being denied asylum in India, he travelled to Thailand where he planned to secure refugee status. Li Xin last made contact with his partner on 3 February, although his whereabouts remain unknown.

Rafael Maldonado, Legal Director for the Guatemalan Centre for Environmental, Social and Legal Action (Centro de Acción Legal, Ambiental y Social de Guatemala, CALAS), recently received a series of intimidating messages via Twitter. These threats were directed against his human rights activities, and were meant to intimidate and suspend his work. His organization has recently been involved in the litigation cases of mining operations and palm oil producers in Guatemala.

Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh and his assistant Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy have been held in custody without trial since May 2014. The duration of the detention has exceeded the legally permitted period of time. They were accused of "abusing democratic freedoms" on political blogs. Nguyen Huu Vinh's family and lawyer are concerned with his health because of the bad condition in which he is being held.

Yekaterina Vologzheninova stood trial on October 27th before court for the first time due to alleged "hatred and inciting hatred against Russia and against the Russians fighting in the east of Ukraine". The allegations are based on her posts criticizing the Russian government on social media. She criticized the Russian annexation of the Crimea and Russia's involvement in the conflict in Donbass, eastern Ukraine.

A 22-year-old Tunisian student known by the nickname "Marwan" was sentenced to prison for his engagement in same-sex sexual relations. Local police forced Marwan to undergo anal examinations for proof of homosexual practices. Marwan appealed and is awaiting a court verdict. He was released on a bail of 500 Dinar (247 USD) on November 5th.

Amur Khakulov is currently awaiting an appeal hearing against a 20 year prison sentence. He is in the pre-trial detention centre SIZO-1 in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, south of Russia. He is suffering from a chronic kidney disease and is being denied appropriate medical treatment. His life is at risk.

Nine men from the United Arab Emirates were convicted on July 2nd, 2013 for criticizing the government and promoting democratic reforms. Among them were human rights defenders, teachers, students and judges. The conviction was a part of a series of mass processes in Abu Dhabi against critics of the government. All of them were found guilty of allegedly "establishing an organization with the aim to unseat the government."

Civil and military police continue their joint operations in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. Police officers refuse to conduct proper investigations for cases in which civilians were shot dead or gravely injured. The number of deaths and injuries caused by police operations in Rio has been rising towards hundreds of thousands in recent years.

Iranian prisoner of conscience and painter Atena Farghadani was sentenced and imprisoned for over twelve years for her artistic work and peaceful activities. She is now critically ill as a result of her hunger strike as protest against her detention.

Leyla Yunus, an Azerbaijani human rights activist, and her husband, Arif Yunus, president of the Institute for Peace and Democracy and her husband, were sentenced to 7 to 8.5 years in prison. Both were tried for alleged fraud and other offenses. Before her arrest, Leyla documented the way in which the Azerbaijani authorities treated political prisoners. Arif is a historian and political activist. Both had openly criticized the Azerbaijani government and pointed to the restrictions on freedom of speech in the country. Amnesty International considers Leyla and Arif prisoners of conscience, imprisoned only because of their human rights activities. We demand their immediate and unconditional release.

Film director Oleg Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years for allegedly setting up a terrorist group and organizing terrorist acts. Aleksandr Kolchenko, an ecologist and anti-fascist activist was sentenced to 10 years in prison after an unfair trial by a military court in Russia. Both are Ukrainian citizens, and are accused of "terrorism", which stems from their criticism of the Russian occupation of Crimea.

Vietnamese citizen Tran Huynh Duy Thuc has been sitting for six years in prison for his blog calling for political reform and respect for human rights. He was imprisoned after an unfair trial in which he had been sentenced to 16 years. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience imprisoned just for exercising his right to freedom of expression. International organizations call for his immediate release along with other 35 Vietnamese political prisoners.

Tibetan monk Choephel Dawa was detained on March 28 and there has been no known information about him since then. The location where Dawa is detained and the charges against him are unknown. He faces a risk of torture and maltreatment.

The conflict in Syria has sparked one of the greatest humanitarian crisis today. At the same time, it has launched the largest refugee wave since the Rwandan genocide. 2.5 million people - one in ten Syrians - has fled the country. Half of them are children, and they need our help. They need to find a safe haven in Europe.

Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, a Christian Sudanese woman, was convicted on charges of 'adultery' and 'apostasy' and is at risk of being sentenced to flogging and death. She is currently in the eighth month of pregnancy and is held in detention with her 20-month-old son. She was sentenced to death on May 11, 2014 after she refused to abandon her religion. Amnesty International considers Meriam as a prisoner of conscience. Her sentence is unjust as she was punished for mere practising of her right to freedom of religion.

Dilorom Abdukadirova, a prisoner of conscience, is serving an 18-year sentence in Tashkent Women’s Prison, Uzbekistan. She was imprisoned after she returned to Uzbekistan in January 2010 to be reunited with her husband and children. She had fled the country after the events in Andizhan in 2005 when hundreds of individuals, including women and children, were killed when security forces opened fire on mostly unarmed demonstrators. In April 2010 Dilorom Abdukadirova was sentenced in a trial that violated international fair trial standards and she was allegedly subjected to torture and other ill-treatment while in pre-trial detention. Her brothers and sisters fear that she is again ill-treated in prison. Amnesty International considers that Dilorom Abdukadirova is a prisoner of conscience and that the charges against her have been brought to punish her for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.

The facility at Guantánamo, Cuba has become a symbol of the gross human rights violations being committed by the United States of America in the name of fighting terrorism. There are currently at least 150 men being detained in Guantánamo, many who have not been held without being charged or given a trial. Amnesty International believes the men must be given fair trials or released. In addition, Amnesty International is calling on the US government to close Guantánamo once and for all.

A Muslim exodus of historic proportions is taking place before our eyes, leaving civilians in desperate need for protection and humanitarian assistance. In the Central African Republic, a new surge of violence in their civil war has resulted in thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the country.
The conflict stems from both religious tensions between the minority Muslim and majority Christian communities, but also has political aspects. In March 2013, the nation underwent a coup, after which the first Muslim president, Michel Djotodia, came to power in the predominantly Christian country. By 2014, under significant international pressure, the President resigned.
However, the conflict continues. Our research and various reports including the latest report of the UN Secretary General to the UN Security Council indicate that the anti-balaka militias are increasingly becoming organized and the Séléka forces are regrouping in the northeast of the Central African Republic (CAR). This is further compounded with increased proliferation of arms and weapons into the country in breach of the UNSC arms embargo.

Since the beginning of February, 2014, ongoing clashes in Venezuela between anti-government opposition and government security forces has resulted in several dozen deaths and hundreds of injuries. Amnesty International believes that the government and the opposition must immediately commit to respect fundamental human rights.

At least five people - journalists and activists - were arrested by a group of armed men in military control crossing near Crimea. After a few days in captivity, all detainees have been released, but a similar situation may happen again. Journalists are necessary to provide objective information about the current situation in the region. Amnesty International is therefore calling to ensure the security and freedom of movement for journalists and other people in Crimea, including people from mainland Ukraine.

In Belarus, civil society activists who try to organize to make their concerns public must operate within the framework of restrictive laws, which are applied in ways which violate their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association, and expression. Civil society organizations face closure and individuals face prosecution if they criticize the authorities. Any form of public action, even a one-person picket, is subject to permission which is rarely granted, and peaceful demonstrators face fines or short prison sentences.

Liu Xia, wife of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, has been held under house arrest since 8 October 2010. She suffered a heart attack in January 2014 and, though brought to a hospital for examination, was denied the two week stay in the hospital doctors recommended. She remains under house arrest, and there are serious concerns about her physical and mental health. Amnesty International considers Liu Xia a prisoner of conscience, unjustly confined to her home primarily because of the political actions of her husband. Amnesty International also notes that she has never been formally tried or convicted, thus violating her right to a fair trial and freedom of expression.

Highly respected Tibetan monk, Karma Tsewang, was arrested in December 2013 while traveling on a business trip. The Chinese authorities arrested him for "endangering state security," a term often used to imprison peaceful critics of the government. Tsewang has not been given access to a lawyer or to see his family since his imprisonment. Amnesty International considers Karma Tsewang a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned merely for exercising his right to freedom of expression and for his activities in support of Tibetan culture and language.

Yevgeniy Vitishko was detained on 3 February and charged with “petty hooliganism” for “swearing at a bus stop”. He has been sentenced to 15 days in detention. During this period Amnesty International regards him as a prisoner of conscience.

Bulgarian refugee camps, housing thousands of refugees and migrants, many of whom are fleeing conflicts in Syria, are sorely inadequate. Many refugees do not have access to basic needs, such as food, health care, or hygiene. Some do not have beds to sleep in, or roofs over their heads, as winter sets in. Amnesty International is calling upon the Bulgarian government to remedy the situation.

Dr. Tun Aung was arrested on June 11, in Rakhine state, western Myanmar and has been held in detention without any communication to his family or lawyer since being arrested. He is a practicing medical doctor and the chairman of the Islamic Religious Affairs Council in Maungdaw. Dr. Tun Aung is accused of inciting communal violence after riots broke out in Maungdaw, Rakhine state, which he had been asked to try to defuse by local authorities due to his position of respect in the community. We believe the criminal charges waged against Dr. Aung are unfounded, and regard him as a prisoner of conscience.

Badia East is a slum in the city of Lagos, Nigeria's capital city. On 23 February, 2013, the Lagos state authorities demolished 266 homes without contacting the inhabitants. People were not allowed to take anything from their houses before they were destroyed, and people who protested were beaten or arrested. Amnesty International considers these forced evictions a gross violation of the human rights of the residents of Badia East.

Following a peaceful protest demonstration on Moscow Bolotnaya Square, which took place in May 2012, on the eve of the inauguration of President Putin, 3 men were arrested. Amnesty International considers all three activists to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to peaceful assembly and association.

Members of COFADEH, the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras, are being harassed in Honduras. Members of the group have been monitored and unjustifiably attacked. COFADEH, originally founded in the 1980's, has always been threatened, but the instances of violence and discrimination against its members has increased in the last few years. Amnesty International believes these actions are occurring because of their actions on behalf of the detained and missing.

13 peaceful anti-government protestors in Bahrain have been unjustly imprisoned for the last 2.5 years. They were arrested in the middle of the night, not allowed to see their families or contact their lawyers, and many were tortured before their trials. Amnesty International considers them prisoners of conscience, detained only for the peaceful expression of their views and activism.

Yorm Bopha was sentenced in December 2012 to three years in prison after being accused of planning an assault on two men suspected of theft. Bopha is a activist living at Boeung Kak lake in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, where she defends the people's right to housing and freedom of expression. Amnesty International sees Bopha as a prisoner of conscience, detained by the authorities in connection with her peaceful activist activities.

Ihar Tsikhanyuk was questioned, beaten, and subjected to threats of abuse for being gay by the Belarusian police after his unsuccessful attempt to register the LGBTI NGO Human Rights Center Lambda in January 2013. The police attack has gone unpunished. Amnesty International believes the refusal to register the NGO and the attack on Tsikhanyuk were the result of discrimination based on his sexual orientation.

Since 2012, when Vladimir Putin was elected Russian President for the third time, a number of controversial laws restricting human rights have been passed by the Duma (Russia's lower house). These laws fundamentally effect the lives of thousands of Russian citizens, including the detainment of activists, persecution of artists, discrimination against members of the LGBTI community, and significant restrictions against non-profit and NGO groups. Amnesty International believes these laws have been passed primarily to restrict the activities of political opposition and social society initiatives. We therefore call for their annulment, because they contradict the Russian Constitution and international laws Russia has agreed to comply with.

Residents of the village of Nabi Saleh, with solidarity from other Palestinian, Israeli and international activists, hold weekly non-violent demonstrations to demand an end to Israeli occupation and its associated policy of illegal settlement expansion. The Israeli security forces frequently meet these demonstrations with excessive and unnecessary force: since 2009 they have killed two protesters and injured hundreds of others. The army’s excessive use of force against the demonstrations affects the whole village and may constitute collective punishment, outlawed by the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Manuel Chivonde Nito Alves (better known as Nito Alves) is a seventeen year old boy from Angola who has been detained for expressing his disagreement with the the president‘s policy. Amnesty International considers Nito Alves to be a prisoner of conscience, arrested solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.

On 6 October 2013 Chinese armed forces used excessive measures to crack down on a peaceful protest in the Tibetan village Dirie. At least 60 people were injured, some seriously. In addition, the wounded did not receive any medical care. Amnesty International believes that the Tibetans were grossly attacked only because of their peaceful exercise of the right to assembly and association.

Cuban activist Iván Fernández Depestre was arrested in July 2013 during a peaceful protest to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Cuban national hero Frank País. In August 2013, he was sentenced to three years in prison for politically motivated crimes. Amnesty International considers Mr Depestre to be a prisoner of conscience, detained only for his membership in dissident groups and for exercising his right to freedom of expression.

A group of thirty Greenpeace activists, who had been peacefully protesting against Arctic oil drilling, were detained by Russian security forces on 19 September 2013. All the activists were later accused of “piracy”, which has a penalty up to 15 years in prison under the Russian law. Amnesty International believes that the charges leveled against the activists are inappropriate and should be dropped.

Jabeur Mejri was sentenced on 28 March 2012 to seven-and-a-half years in prison and a fine of 1200 Tunisian Dinars (US$757) after a court in the eastern city of Mahdia ruled that posts he made online were insulting to Islam and Muslims. Amnesty International considers Jabeur Mejri a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned merely for expressing his right to free speech.

Journalist Eskinder Nega was arrested in September 2011 after making speeches and writing articles critical of the Ethiopian government. He was charged with "participation in a terrorist organization" and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Amnesty International considers Eskinder Nega a prisoner of conscience, sentenced for exercising his freedom of speech.

Hakan Yaman, from Istanbul, was seriously wounded in June 2013 while he was returning home from work. He was beaten by police because they believed he was participating in the nearby anti-governmental demonstration, which took place near his residence. He ended up with a fractured skull, nose, collarbone and jaw, as well as complete loss of vision in one eye. The policemen responsible have not been punished. Amnesty International considers the gross use of force and violence by the Turkish police in the repression of peaceful protests to be a gross violation of the rights of free assembly and free speech.

Right now in Slovakia Romani children are being placed in segregated schools and classes. They’re being put there solely because they are Roma. These schools and classes often offer inferior education, which means these children are being denied a real chance in life.

The teacher and activist Soni Sori was arrested in 2011 for allegedly aiding and supporting the Maoist rebels, in spite of the fact that she has always condemned human rights violations by both the rebels and the government.
Amnesty International believes that the charges against her are false and politically motivated, and that Soni Sori is a prisoner of conscience who has been arrested solely for criticizing human rights violations by both Maoists and state forces committed during the armed insurgency.

Kim Jeong-Nam, an 11 year-old boy, suddenly disappeared along with his mother in 2011. Amnesty International believes he is being imprisoned in Yodok, a political prisoners camp the North Korean government claims does not exist.

In 2011, Miriam Lopez was held in military barracks for a week, where she was tortured and sexually abused by soldiers. Army personnel tortured Miriam López in order to coerce her into signing a self-incriminating confession which falsely implicated her in drug trafficking offences. A state appointed public defender was present during parts of interrogation but failed to take any action to protect her rights or stop her ill-treatment, and no-one has been punished for these crimes. Amnesty International considers torture and any other form of ill-treatment as a way of coercing a confession a gross violation of human rights.

Ales Bialiatski is a well-known activist and leader of the Human Rights Center Viasna. His organization was derecognized by the Belarusian authorities in 2003, forcing the organization to maintain their finances outside of the country. Bialiatski was arrested in 2011 and imprisoned after unfair trials regarding "concealment of income on a large scale." Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience whose detention is politically motivated and intended to obstruct his legitimate work as a human rights defender.

Tibetan film-maker Dhondup Wangchen has been imprisoned for "inciting separatism". He was detained in March 2008 for his involvement in making a documentary film about Tibetan attitudes towards the Beijing Olympics and the Dalai Lama. After a year of detention, he was secretly sentenced to 6 years in prison.